Not part of my art supplies, but...

...just as important!

 

I recently received this message via my LinkedIn page:
HI Emily, 
I looked at your blog and website, they are really wonderful. 
How do you get so many photos from events? Do you take someone with you to shoot pictures? I always wish I had copies of my work with the people I drew, but never have time to set them up for pictures. 
Marie
Thanks, Marie! The answer to your question is, I've always been a keen amateur photographer-- I take them all myself, unless I'm in it! Back when I was a kid with a dinky plastic camera, my parents would get exasperated that I'd go through film so quickly. (One of the reasons I like the Hipstamatic app on my IPhone is recreating the look of those old 12 and 24 exposure rolls of film! The photo above, of my trusty Sony Cybershot, was taken with Hipstamatic.)  So, photographing the highlights of a live gig is just an extension of  a lifelong pleasure.


Anyway, at gigs, I like to take some photos when I arrive, of decorations, cakes or anything noteworthy in the venue. And sometimes, there's time after drawing to get a photo...like I did when the guests were still dancing at the end of my most recent gig.   
For the in-the-chair shots of subjects with their caricatures, there are two ways to do it, and neither take much time at all---maybe fifteen or twenty seconds.
The first way is to take the photo while the drawing is still on the easel, before you show the subject. This way is very quick and you are in control.
The second way is to ask them once they have seen it, to pose with it. There's more room for error this way, as they may still be laughing and reacting to it, but the result is more spontaneous. 
Which way you go depends on the gig and how hectic it is. If it's extremely crazy. like too many children and not enough time, I may only get one or two photos, tops---and they are easel pics. If it's the kind of relaxed gig where your line consists of a few people at a time, and stays the same size, you have more leeway. Most people are happy to be asked, and I always tell them that it may end up on my website, or blog, or my digital frame of samples hanging above the drawing area on my easel.


I do love my Sony Cybershot--its only failing is that I can't zoom while taking a video. And videos are a whole other story...:-)


Thanks for your question!